Insect Picture of the Day

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This 2cm European paper wasp stopped on my brickwork for a quick photo. They’re still active out here this time of year, huddling for warmth to get through the nearly freezing nights, and then resuming activity during the period of warmth in the afternoon that gets shorter and shorter each day.

October in Utah is a month that generally starts out warm, with lazy Autumn afternoons or even the occasional hot burst of Indian Summer. But you always want a warm Halloween costume if you’re going to be outside, because October ends with freezing nights and cold days.

Yesterday I couldn’t go out on my back deck because it was swarming with dozens of paper wasps, diligently chewing my redwood deck to shreds for nest material. For a moment I thought the new queens were finally flying. This always creates swarms on the porch, but the wasps weren’t dancing and mating; they were just looking for more wood to chew up and carry off. I am surprised that I haven’t seen the queens fly yet this year; I may have missed it.

I’ll keep my eyes open–and camera handy–in case they’re going to fly late this year. The new queens hatch, fly off in a mating flight, and then find a good place to hibernate. They overwinter and start new nests in the Spring.